Marathon 4 - London
Another flight (Houston to London), another amazing stroke of fortune - hardly anyone on board and 3 seats each! Get in! So we iced our injuries, stretched our muscles, ate more food, rehydrated like madmen and used the remaining time to kip (in between trips to the toilet - the downside of continuously necking water / 1Above / Diralyte).
As we made our way through Heathrow it became apparent that Dan could hardly walk. What he’d made out to be (and heroically run on in Houston) a little niggling injury the day before turned out to have crippled him. After a thorough diagnosis from the England Rugby Team Sports Doctor, he was advised not to run until MRI scans revealed the extent of the injury. A slightly teary farewell in the treatment room meant only 5 of us made the start line.
But what a start line it was! As the 5 of us made our way to the start line, we heard the crowd before we saw them. Cheers, clapping and an all round sense of joy from family, friends and loved ones made quite an impact and we were left feeling a little embarrassed maybe that so many people were taking interest and making such an effort to come and support us. It was also great to see our London charity, KEEN at the start and finish line. They waved us off, ran with us and were there at the finish. A huge heartfelt thank you from all of us to everyone! You made our day!
And so we ran - we were many. Chatter flowed fluently through the ranks. Strangers meeting and brought together by this silly little project we’ve embarked on. Others joined as those from the start line went back to work. It was like Piccadilly circus out there!
Hyde Park, in the centre of London, took the brunt of our quite literal marathon effort. However we made a small diversion via Buckingham Palace to see if the Queen was in and via Big Ben to check the time and our overall progress. She was out. We were in.
Lady luck shone upon us once again as the winter sun and blue skies showed off London in all its beauty - even if it did get a tad cold later on. Our hearts were warmed though and spirits turned euphoric with the news that Dan would not only continue the remainder of the journey with us, but run the rest of the legs, so long as he could bear the pain.
Super Dan is back!
Rob: 3h49
Ben: 3h49
Gareth: 4h17
Steve: 4h28
Pete: 5h55
